


Chick Magnet

by Green_Eyed_Weirdo



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Bechloe Week, Bechloe Week 2020, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:48:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25592281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Green_Eyed_Weirdo/pseuds/Green_Eyed_Weirdo
Summary: The one with the chick and the duck.
Relationships: Chloe Beale & Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 14
Kudos: 88





	Chick Magnet

**Author's Note:**

> For Bechloe week 2020 - Day 4; Baby Farm Animals.
> 
> Also check out the awesome artwork by Sketchywave on Tumblr!

Chloe has just finished her first year of vet school. As kind of a summer job thing, she has started helping out at the local animal shelter. Beca had been so supportive of her dreams when she first told her she wanted to go back to school and study to be a vet. The two best friends knew it was gonna be a struggle for a bit though. They’d been living together as roommates in New York City for two years now, and with Chloe going back to school full time, Beca would be the sole provider for the both of them. 

Beca has been working as a music producer at a small record label in the city for the majority of those two years. She was working very hard on making her dreams a reality, so she understood why Chloe would want to do the same. She had no problem supporting them both for the time being. 

Working with animals was Chloe’s passion. Ever since starting at the shelter six weeks ago, Beca had come to realize just how much Chloe cared about their well being. They’d basically had a new house guest every weekend. A dog that needed to be cared for over the weekend, a kitten that was without a mother and had to be bottle fed, Chloe took it all on. Beca didn’t really mind, she knew it was a temporary solution and she loved watching Chloe with the animals. Especially the baby animals. She even liked to cuddle them herself sometimes.

On her way home from the animal shelter late thursday evening, Chloe knew she was pushing it this time. She had texted Beca earlier in the day, informing her she was bringing home babies again tonight. She conveniently left out what kind of babies, and that they weren’t just guests this time. 

She had been working the late shift today, which means she only started her shift around 3pm. Shortly after she’d gotten behind the desk, a man rushed through the door, dropped a cardboard box on the counter and left just as quickly. Chloe had been a little apprehensive as she noticed the box had holes in the top. 

As she tentatively lifted the lid to check inside, she heard a small squeak and her heart swelled about two sizes. Inside the box were a tiny baby chicken and a small duck, snuggled up together in a towel. Chloe hadn’t been able to contain herself and picked them up to give them some love. 

After the veterinarian that was volunteering that day checked them over and declared both of them healthy, Chloe was torn about what to do with them. She couldn’t just leave them in the kennel room with the dogs and cats. They were so small, they’d get scared. So she decided they’d probably had a rough enough day as it was, put on an oversized hoodie, put the babies inside and sat back down at the front desk. The cardboard box with the towel stood underneath her desk, so she could put them down for a bit if she needed to go take care of something.

As her shift neared its end and she was helping Ellie, one of the staff members clean up, she’d dared to ask what would happen to the baby chick and duck. Ellie and Chloe had become friends since working together. She knew how much Chloe loves the animals, so she tried to be as sensitive as she could with her answer. “We can only keep animals that have a good chance of getting adopted, Chloe. I’m afraid a chicken and a duck are not that lucky in New York City.” 

Chloe felt a lump in her throat as she asked the next question. “What will happen to them if they don’t get adopted?” 

Ellie had looked at her sympathetically as she knew Chloe was not going to like this answer. “They will probably need to be put down. As much as we hate to have to do that, we just can’t keep them here.” 

Chloe felt her eyes sting with tears. She couldn’t let that happen to these cute babies. She would take them home. Surely Beca will understand.

That’s what has led her here. Standing in the hallway of their apartment building, cardboard box in her hands, a little apprehensive of going inside. But there was no going back now. So with a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped inside. The living room was silent with only one light on. 

She could hear music coming from the back of the apartment, so she figured Beca was probably working on her music in her bedroom. “That’s good”, Chloe thought. This would give her some time to get the chick and duck settled in her bedroom and then cautiously break the news of the new housemates to Beca. 

Luckily Chloe had been able to borrow a heat lamp from the shelter, so she would be able to keep the chick and duck warm for the night. She put the lamp on her desk, plugged it in and turned it on. She situated the box just right underneath the lamp, so the babies would be all warm and cosy in their towel. She would find a nice, fresh blanket for them in the morning. She took another deep breath and walked towards Beca’s bedroom.

Beca looks up from her laptop when she hears a soft knock at her door. Chloe stands smiling at her in the doorway. “Hi Bec, how was your day?” Chloe walks into the room and plops herself down onto Beca’s bed. 

“It was good, got a lot of work done. Just another full day tomorrow and I might be able to have a weekend off.” She saves the project she had been working on so she can give her full attention to Chloe. “How about you? What was this text about you bringing home babies. Where are they?” 

Chloe can’t help but notice Beca actually looks excited for their new housemates, but then she realizes she’s not told her best friend the whole truth yet. “Yeah, my day was good. Look Bec, these babies... they’re not our usual kind of guests.”  
She stands up from Beca’s bed and motioned for Beca to follow her. “They were brought into the shelter today, and they don’t have the best chances of getting adopted. I couldn’t just leave them, you know?” She explains while Beca follows her into her bedroom. 

Chloe holds her breath for a moment, when Beca doesn’t say anything. She looks to where Beca is standing, looking into the cardboard box. “Bec? Say something please…” Chloe is not sure what is going on in Beca’s head right now. 

Beca clears her throat, “okay, ehm… not what I was expecting, at all. How long are they staying?” 

Chloe looks back at the sleeping chicken and duck. “Well, what I forgot to mention earlier… I’ve kind of ehm… adopted them.”

Wide, stormy blue eyes look straight into her own, as Chloe sees the shocked expression on Beca’s face. “You did what? Adopted them? Chloe!” 

“I know, Bec, I should’ve asked you. But listen,” Chloe grabs Beca’s hands and pulls her from the bedroom, away from the sleeping birds, “if they don’t get adopted, they will be put down.” She whispers the last part as to not let them hear her. “Their chances of getting adopted in New York City are not good.” 

“Because they are FARM ANIMALS, Chloe!” Beca’s voice gets a little louder. 

“But Bec, they are babies! What was I supposed to do. I couldn’t just leave them. I just couldn’t.” Beca sees the tears in Chloe’s eyes and softens immediately. She takes a step towards Chloe and pulls her in for a hug. “I know, Chlo. It’s okay.” 

She has to admit, Chloe’s big, caring heart is easily one of the things she loves most about her. And the chick and duck are pretty damn cute. They’ll make it work.

\-- 

Friday was always a pretty busy day for both Beca and Chloe. Unbeknownst to the other, both women always tried to finish up as much work as they could, to be able to spend time with the other over the weekend. 

This particular Friday, Beca had left the apartment fairly early to make sure she’d get all her work done before the end of the day. Chloe had the day off and had made plans to go to lunch with a friend from vet school. After a broken first night with the new babies, Chloe decided to text her friend and cancel their plans. The chick and duck obviously needed time to adjust and she would stay home with them to try to bond.

After her morning routine, Chloe decided to let the babies explore the apartment on their own. She called Aubrey for a long overdue catch up and while they talked, she kept her eyes on the wandering birds.  
“And Beca is okay with you keeping poultry in your apartment?” Aubrey asked when Chloe told her about the previous day. 

“Yeah, I mean… kinda? She didn’t necessarily jump for joy…” 

“Does she ever?” 

“Aubrey!” Chloe laughed “I think she just understood how much it meant to me. And if it doesn’t work out, we can just find them a new home from here or something.” Chloe was just sort of thinking out loud now. 

“It’ll work out, Chloe. Beca can’t say no to you, even if she wanted to.” A small smile grew on Chloe’s face at that last part. She really wanted to be more than just friends with Beca, but she wasn’t sure about Beca’s feelings. She fervently hoped Aubrey’s last comment meant what she thought it did. 

Over the course of an hour, the phone call with Aubrey covered all the topics they could think off. They talked about vet school, Aubrey's job, how both their parents are doing and Aubrey’s most recent tinder date, which hadn’t been a success. 

Aubrey eventually brought up Beca again, but this time, to ask how Chloe was coping with her crush on the girl. “It’s going okay, I guess. Sometimes I think she might feel the same way. I don’t know, I just don’t want to mess up what we have if she doesn’t.” 

“Chloe, I don’t think you have to…” Aubrey was cut off by a loud gasp at the other end. 

“No no no no” Chloe ran back into the living room and dropped to her knees to look under the couch. She had been so wrapped up in her phone call, she had walked to the kitchen to get herself a drink and completely forgot the babies for a moment. As she walked back in, she just saw the tiny tail of the duck disappear behind the couch. 

“Chloe, what’s going on? everything okay?” Chloe peered underneath the couch and saw both birds looking back at her. She let out a sigh “yeah, I’m fine. I just took my eyes of the babies for one minute and they hid underneath the couch. I have to go catch them, I’ll call back later.” They quickly said their goodbyes and Chloe stood up to move the couch. After a battle of about fifteen minutes, she finally had both babies back in the cardboard box and plopped down on the floor next to them. “Don’t scare mommy like that again, okay?” she said to them in a baby voice and smiled as they made the cutest little noise back. “What am I going to do with you guys?” 

Late in the afternoon, after two more search and rescue operations, Chloe figured she had to find some way she wouldn’t have to put the little birds in a box, but also wouldn’t have to keep an eye on them 24/7. She’d put them back in the box hopefully for the last time, so she could quickly run to the store just around the corner from their apartment block. She hoped they would have something she could built a little fence with, so they’d be free but contained while they were still so little. She was sure they could be left wandering around once they would get bigger. 

Chloe is sitting on the floor of the living room. Next to her, in the middle of the room stands a oversized pet playpen. She knew the playpen had been to big for the babies when she bought it, but she figured they would still be able to use it to keep them in one place when they were bigger, whenever her and Beca would both be out. All around her on the floor are pictures of the Bella’s and Chloe’s family and the tv is playing one of the Bella’s ICCA sets. She’s so engulfed in talking to the little birds, she doesn’t hear the door to the apartment open and close behind her. 

From her position at the front door Beca can see Chloe holding up a picture of the two of them, looking at each other under an umbrella. Beca really loves that picture. “Look guys, that’s Beca., your other mom.” She hears Chloe explain while pointing at the tv. She then proceeds to hold up the picture so the chick and duck can see. Beca swears it’s almost as if the chicken actually looks at the picture. She laughs at herself for even thinking it. The baby chicken lets out a soft squeak “yeah, I know” Chloe sighs, “she’s beautiful, isn’t she?” another soft squeak is heard. “She’s a different kind of ‘chick’, but I love you both very much.” Suddenly the duck decides to join in the conversation with a loud quack. “yes, I love you too.” Chloe laughs. 

Beca smiles at the scene in front of her and she feels a warmth go through her body. She realizes she’s been standing by the door, lurking like a weirdo for too long. She puts her bag down on the floor and walks into the living room. “What am I looking at?” Chloe’s head snaps up, eyes wide for a second before they soften and she smiles at Beca. 

“I was just showing the birds our family. Can you go get that picture of your dad and Sheila?” Beca lets out a sigh as she tries to keep from yawning. 

“Is it okay if we pick this up tomorrow? I’m so tired, I was planning on going straight to bed actually.” 

“Are you serious right now?” Beca can see the change in Chloe’s mood and is confused for a moment. 

“Ehm, yeah? Chlo, I’ve had a really long day, I just…” Beca’s sentence trails off when she sees a flash of hurt in Chloe’s eyes. 

“Excuse me? I stayed home all day so somebody could be here with our chick and duck. I cancelled my plans and everything.” 

“Hey! who was up from 2am until 4am last night, trying to get them to go back to sleep?” Beca fires back. 

“You don’t think I wake up when you get up?” Chloe asks irritated.  
“Oh, here it comes!” 

“yes! here it comes, Beca. I'm stuck here all day! Then when you finally come home, you spent 2 seconds with us and expect to just go to bed? I don't think so.” Chloe is on a roll now. She knows she’s being a little unfair but can’t seem to stop herself.

“Hey! I need my sleep. I've been working all day!” Beca says in a frustrated tone.  
“And you dont think taking care of these babies is work?”  
“That's not what i said, Chloe.”

A silence falls between them for a moment and they both let out a tired sigh. “Have you noticed that ever since we got our chick and duck, we’ve been fighting more than we used to?” Chloe asks in a more tentative tone. 

“We got them yesterday, chlo.” Beca almost laughs at her best friends dramatics but is able to hold it back.  
“Well, maybe we weren’t ready.” 

She sees the disappointment on Chloe’s face and hates that she’s the reason for it. Beca breathes out in defeat. “I’m sorry Chlo, you’re right.” She slumps down on the floor next to Chloe. “Tell me about you guys’s day.” 

\---

The two best friends usually spent their free Saturdays together. After their fight the night before, Beca realized Chloe had indeed spent her entire free Friday cooped up in the apartment with the birds. So this particular Saturday, she urges Chloe to call her friend from vet school to reschedule their lunch for today. 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay here alone with them?” Chloe asks attentively.  
“Of course, Chlo. We’ll be fine. Look, you’ve been inside this apartment all day yesterday. You deserve to go out. But ehm, I was thinking…” Chloe looks at her with a cheeky smirk, waiting for the next part of the sentence. 

“Maybe you could bring back the groceries on your way home from lunch?” Chloe laughed at that. Trust Beca to do something nice and get something out of it for herself too. 

“Sure Becs, I know how much you hate grocery shopping. Just this once though. Next week you’re coming with me again.” She winks at Beca before turning around to get her phone and call her friend.

In the two hours Chloe had been gone already, Beca had done her laundry, made herself lunch and cleaned up the apartment. As she looked at the pet playpen from her position on the couch, she realized she was bored out of her mind without Chloe. She normally never had a day off without her best friend, and she just didn’t know what to do without her. 

She was brought out of her thoughts by a loud quack from the duck. “You miss her too?” she asked the duck and immediately shook her head. “I’m literally going crazy, why am I talking to a fucking duck?” she thought. Yet, as the duck quacked again, she found herself doing it again: “I know what will cheer you up…” She stood from the couch and opened the playpen “come on guys!” she said as she walked into the bathroom. The chick and duck dutifully followed her inside, loudly quacking and squeaking as they did. Beca laughed as she looked behind her, “I can’t believe that worked”, she whispered.

About twenty minutes later, Chloe opens the apartment door and frowns when she finds the living room empty. As she puts the bags with groceries on the counter, she hears Beca’s voice coming from the bathroom. She peeks inside and almost melts to the scene before her. There her badass best friend is, sitting on the toilet next to a completely filled up bathtub. The duck is happily splashing around in the water and Beca cradles the tiny chicken in her hands, while she quietly sings: “with a quack quack here and a quack quack there…” Chloe watches them adoringly for a moment, before she remembers the groceries and returns to the kitchen to put them away.

Chloe tries to hurry putting away the groceries, so she can join Beca and the birds in the bathroom. As she put the last item away, she realizes she doesn’t hear singing anymore. She walks back to the bathroom and overhears Beca talk to the birds in the softest voice. “Just wait until your other mommy gets back and joins in the fun. You guys, she has such a beautiful voice. God, I love her voice.” Chloe smiles and steps closer to the door. Just as she pushes it open a little further, she hears Beca say: “You guys want to know a secret? I don’t just love other mommy’s voice. I love her, very much.” Beca’s sentence trails off as the bathroom door opens and she sees a teary eyed Chloe standing in the doorway.

The color drains from Beca’s face as she looks at Chloe with wide eyes. “Shit, Chlo. I’m so…”  
Chloe cuts Beca off with a watery laugh as a tear rolls down her face: “I love you, too.” 

Beca, still holding the tiny chicken in her hands, stands up from the toilet. “You do?” She asks with an uncertain smile.  
“Yeah”, Chloe breathes out as she takes a step closer to Beca. 

She sees her best friend look down at her lips fleetingly and before she can even really think about it, she closes the gap between them. They share a soft first kiss that, for both women, feels like coming home. That is until they are rudely interrupted by a loud quack coming from the bathtub. Both women burst out laughing and as Beca looks down at the duck she says: “I know dude!”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr as Green-Eyed-Weirdo!


End file.
